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Government

Anargo's government is an artefact of the civil war held in 326.M37 in the closing battles of the Age of Apostasy in the Anargo sector. In the previous millennia, stretching back beyond the foundation of the Imperium and into the Age of Strife, the government of Anargo was focussed upon a religious dictatorship and autocracy similar, in many ways, to that found in the modern world of Tryphon. Following the successful coup d’etat the government of Anargo shifted radically. Not only was the uprising of the previous adeptus arbites commander popular, but as an off-worlder Albrecht Gaius was also not entrenched within the acculturated form of the Anargan religion. Indeed, while it would cause him trouble throughout his lifetime, Gaius was to openly question acculturated forms of the Imperial Cult and, by default, the Adeptus Ministorum. It was rumoured that during his lifetime his name was frequenty discussed in the offices of the Cardinals of Dorvastor along with the words traitoris excommunicus.

The history of Gaius' coup against the Anargan Theocracy is discussed elsewhere but, when combined with popular movement and his own views, the changes to Anargan government in the last century of the Age of Apostasy in what would become the Anargo sector were significant. Looking towards the activities of the Adeptus Ministorum as somewhat ironic inspiration for the changes to the structure of government. With Gaius’ own preferences for control of a potentially unruly population – as a pragmatist he realised that the Anargan population was fickle and if they had rebelled against their appointed Imperial Commander, rightly or wrongly, there was every chance that they would do so again. As such, administration districts were created under the control of the rapidly expanding local Adeptus Arbites force. Indeed, while the overt form of the government changed, some scholars quietly point to the similarities between the two governments with ‘administration districts’ replacing ‘diocese’, adeptus arbites replacing priests and the ‘tithe’ to the Anargan church being substituted with the ‘Civil Contribution’.

Anargo, therefore, is divided into a large number of ‘administration districts’ maintained by the local adeptus arbites force. While referred to as the the ‘adeptus arbites’, it is raised and trained from local volunteers and might be more correctly considered a separate arm to the Planetary Defence Forces raised as the feudal obligation of all responsible Imperial Commanders. The adeptus arbites proper, i.e. those that are trained off-world and brought in as a distinct entity, are maintained at the Imperial Conclave in the northern hemisphere of Anargo.

Each administration district is integrated into a distinct hierarchy, both in terms of a chain of command through the structure of the adeptus arbites and also through their civil responsibilities. The ultimate commander of the local adeptus arbites is, of course, the Lord Commander Anargo who also traditionally carries an honourary rank within the true adeptus arbites. The penultimate authority is the Lord Arbiter of the local adeptus arbites, who provides an important voice in the Lord Commander’s advisory council.